According to almost a century of Navy tradition, the year’s first deck log entry on a U.S. warship must be written in rhyme. The tradition is a tricky one since the entry must still include all the required information about a ship’s location, propulsion and operations. Read More →

USS Constitution floats in Dry Dock One of the Boston Navy Yard on July 23, 2017. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated with additional information from the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Today, perhaps 15 percent of USS Constitution – including the keel – is original material from the 1790s, but the spirit of the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat remains intact as a 26-month restoration winds down. Read More →

A new sonar survey has found the World War II wreck of cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) mostly undisturbed, while the status of nearby wreck of Australian warship HMAS Perth is less clear, according to information from the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command provided to USNI News. Read More →

The following is Sept. 2, 1945 footage of the Japanese World War II surrender on USS Missouri (BB-63) filmed by Cmdr. George F. Kosco and preserved to the Naval History and Heritage Command.Read More →

The remains of the missing Grumman TBM-1C Avenger. Photo Courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography

For 72 years, it was missing in action. The Navy torpedo bomber rested on the sandy bottom off Palau’s coast, its fuselage violently broken from anti-aircraft fire amid heavy fighting of World War II. Read More →

A screen grab of video from the Aug. 18, 2015 dive on the USS Macon. Ocean Exploration Trust Photo

SILVER SPRING, Md. – Eighty years ago, the Navy’s last flying aircraft carrier crashed off the coast of California and sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

The sinking of USS Macon (ZRS-5), a lighter-than-air rigid airship, resulted in few deaths but its loss ended the Navy’s quest to use airships as long-range scouts for the fleet.

While the idea died, the wreck Macon lives on as an important archaeological site and this week Naval History and Heritage Command, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and several non-profits came together to explore the wreckage, mapping out pieces of the airship and its four biplanes and studying the change in its material condition over time. Read More →

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Navy experimented with lighter-than-air craft in its fleet. In addition to work with blimps, it built and commissioned two dirigibles – with USS designation – to serve as flying aircraft carriers. Read More →

Sailors assigned to the submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40) lower a wreath into the water as naval officers from Australia, Indonesia and the United States observe during a ceremony in honor of the crews of the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA 30) and the Royal Australian Navy light cruiser HMAS Perth (D29) on Oct. 14, 2014. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command has finalized its report on the wreck of USS Houston (CA-30) — a cruiser sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy in an early World War II battle off the coast of Indonesia. Read More →